##VIDEO ID:bwhzOxZtCps## good evening and welcome to the January 27th city council meeting can we all stand to salute the flag rooll call of the members councelor agenzio here here councel cogliandro here here councel janino here here councel greo SAA here here councelor H here here councelor Haro here here councelor Kelly's absent councel McKenna here here councel nelski is absent councel zambuto here here and council president sylvestri here here Quorum is present approval of the Journal of the regular meeting of January 13th placed on file calendar item number three the 2025 city council subcommittee assignments placed on file public hearings calendar item number four hearing called dis ordered on an ordinance further amending the noise Control Ordinance of the city of rier this a public hearing do we have any proponents any proponents any opponents oh yeah closing that side of the hearing onto opponents any opponents closing that side of the hearing any city councilors council greenos thank you Mr President um I want to thank Claire for all the work that she did on this motion um that I had put in I support the changes to Pro prohibit the dumpster operation after 8:00 p.m. instead of 9: as well as the police department creating a protocol for dispatching calls related to the noise disturbances updating physical noise violation tickets is also a significant Improvement that was made um as long as there are specific guidelines for each officer to follow this will be successful and I'm really really happy with all the work that was done however I still have an issue with the Animal control officer cuz he does not work on the weekends and after 3:00 it's really difficult to to get a hold of him so we need to put another another uh type of protocol in there in order to have if we have uh noise disturbances for animals and stuff like that with a um an officer for the weekend for that and um a different solution needs to be implemented the noise ordinance will enhance the quality of life by creating a more peaceful environment to the residents and um it'll set a clear expectation of what the actual noise level is going to be we had problems with this all summer long if if the police can hear it from the street then guess what you can hear the noise it needs to be shut down so thank you so much to um Claire for doing all the work that she did thank you thank you thank you councelor and this will be referred to legislative affairs on February 24th at 5: PM calendar item number five hearing called is ordered on an ordinance further amending fire safety regulations in the city of river do we have any proponents name and address I'm sorry James Colin acting fire chief thanks Chief uh Mr President council is good evening I'm just here to uh speak on behalf of this ordinance I'm in favor of it I was uh amended by the policy writer and the attorneys got together with the uh with the former Chief and with the union and um it it it really doesn't change much it's just some of the languages cleaned up from the previous uh now under the board of fire prevention regulations um opposed to as opposed to the State Department of Public Safety in the past uh and it also allows the city um a little bit better on the collection of the uh fees uh for the or for the uh details um so I'll answer any questions if anybody has any thank you Chief any other proponents Uh Kevin oara uh president R fight fighters local 926 uh 400 Broadway R uh we just speak just rise here to speak in favor of this ordinance we worked hard with the city uh the mayor the chief and the union got together and we put this together so all just going to do is help better protect the citizens the property and the firefighter that we at thank you thank you oara any other proponents if there's no other proponents we'll close that side any opponents any opponents hearing none we'll close that side any City councils okay this will be referred to legislative affairs on February 24th calendar item number six hearing call is ordered on the application of Joshua recycling Inc 12 F aong Drive rier Mass requesting a special permit from the rier city council so as to permit a contractor storage yard use within the Ted District at 12 for a long drive we have any proponents applicant name and address please good evening council members and uh council president Hector PTO uh 114 Addison Street Chelsea Massachusetts um so the the tenant my client Joshua recycling uh has been at the property 12 furong drive for since December 1st 2018 um he is applying for to obtain his occupancy um it is a use that requires a special permit who in front of the board for that matter and you're here in favor correct yeah and uh to represent the the applicant as [Music] well do we have any other proponents name and address please Tony 57 C drive and I'm here um in fav I I know josa for a long time he's a good businessman it's a small business right here in r he wanted to do the right thing or he want is a permit to start got and all the other permits because he can start um doing all the other stuff that the city wants if he can get that o permit so thank you Mr ptio is there any other proponents proponents in favor closing that side any opponents opponents name and address please Nicholas Rudolph 577 Washington Avenue um so I am opposed to this at this time uh the majority of the property is within the 200t buffer zone for this and the only part excluding is the angled parking adjacent to furong drive uh we have been in a enforcement uh situation with this property and at the current time at as of 2:30 p.m. today that has not been resolved so I think it would be irresponsible to extend a special permit to these um people until such time as they are able to resolve their enforcement thank you thank you Nick so this will be going to zoning um so this might be an opportunity yeah I just wanted to yeah so this is going to zoning so there might be a time frame for them to catch up and and clarify those but and any other opponents any other their opponents closing that side any city councilors council McKenna thank you uh Mr President this is my wad um so in 2007 businesses on furong Drive will find a hefty fine for its dep uh deplorable conditions it still remains in deplorable conditions 12 F long drive of SE Sals Creek the creek has been lided with oil tires and multiple items from Ab the abing properties many species of birds and Ducks use this Creek for their habitat site plan review has denied the special permit because of in 19 in 19 2024 sorry wrong eror uh in February 12 for aong Drive was cited for dumping piles of soil containers material and chemicals in and along the creek they were in violation of the wet l preservation act by dumping chemicals that could affect seals Creek in a negative way also cited for legal filling and altering of a resource area in April they cleaned the site now they're in front of us trying to get a permit I am totally against them getting anything with um Blackstone uh Logistics and suff downs coming in with lease trailer talk eventually that site should be all cleaned up all those businesses all those uh deplorable businesses uh should be gone and we should redevelop that site so I am saying no and I hope this Council stands um beside me thank you thank you counselor any other counselors councelor cogliandro thank you Mr President through you to the gentleman the representative for that property owner could you explain why you haven't come lied with the recommendations of the Conservation Commission and to clean the property and by the way uh Nick didn't announce it but he is the chairman of the Conservation Commission I just want everyone to know that push the button press the button on the bottom thank you council members uh they did go to the conservation committee uh back in June there was a letter attached um with the findings for that time why hasn't the property been cleaned oh to this moment we are working with uh to have a storm water management system and the uh operations management system as well so we're working with an engineer just to uh conclude to that matter but for the moment we're also just waiting to see what the decision will be I will not vote favorably for this until that property is cleaned that's understandable thank you any other councilors Council Zan buo uh thank you Mr President I just want to make it clear that uh we want a lot more information at the zoning meeting uh whenever it is scheduled so uh you know uh progress report if it's cleaned up and so forth and so on obviously it's got no chance until it's cleaned up but uh thank you thank you thank you councelor councel H um we can uh have n Nick from the conservation committee commission commission rol yeah yeah thank you sorry I just have a quick question can you just walk the council through uh what are the issues uh that are unresolved currently at the site so there is there are ha this materials uh strewn about there are dumpsters overflowing there are still piles of soil that are adjacent their erosion controls aren't proper there there's quite a bit that needs to be resolved before I would even sign off on it if it came before me in the Conservation Commission thank you you're welcome thank you Council McKenna thank you this AB buts this property AB buts uh sales Creek um and I just want people to know that when he was talking about a 200 uh foot buffer that's what he was talking about it's a 200 foot buffer uh next to sales Creek and sales Creek I don't know if people know but it's it's it's DET it's very I'm sorry I can't find the words but um you know it's very important for Sals Creek to run through Bell it comes from Chelsea and when things are put in the creek it stops and for the ecosystem of Riv this is very important so it should be cleaned it shouldn't be inhibited with uh tires and all kinds of dumping chemicals in it um so I that's I'm very passionate about this and I just don't think anything should go there thank you thank you councelor Council has thank you Mr President I'm just shocked that this would be on here tonight and the area still hasn't been cleaned up um like the other counselor said tonight it's it it's near um sales Creek I would not have filed this unless that area was totally clean beforehand so I suggest the area get cleaned up and then you come back thank you thank you thank you counselors um this will be referred to zoning they kind of gave you the answers to the test you know thank you calendar item number seven hearing call is ordered on the application of Steven Caruso Trustee of RNs realy trust 320 charger Street rier Mass requesting a special permit from the rier city council to reconstruct alter and extend the lawfully pre-existing non-conforming structures so as to construct a new commercial parking structure at the property located at Squire rear Road Rivier Mass proponents good afternoon councilors uh Attorney Jerry dambrosio 14 Proctor Avenue here in rier um I represent the petitioner before you RNR uh realy trust uh better known as uh Steve Caruso as as well as his brother Ralph Caruso as the owners of this property I think many of you know that this parcel uh has been owned by the family for decades now maybe 50 years or plus um I represent them in the special permit requests before you tonight there's in essence two special permit requests one pertains to you uh we're asking for a special permit uh to allow for the conversion of the site to be utilized as a park and- fly garage uh and uh the second special permit is for the Reconstruction of the current uh automobile repair shop and uh maybe more importantly the contractor's yard that's currently being used there uh I do have a number of people here tonight that are part of the team I have Steve Caruso Steve I don't know where you are see where I uh to to my left uh we also have the architect Joe uh tatone Joe's here uh we have uh civil engineer Rick Salvo Rick are you here Rick is right here uh and my associate uh Nancy O'Neil I understand that more often than not we like brevity in these initial hearings and questions will be asked at the uh subcommittee hearing but uh by way of presentation I would say that the current uh district is a peed District I think the council is well familiar that it is the district that accommodates industrial use in the city of Rivier uh the lot size here is 2.6 Acres or 112,000 Square ft it's currently being used as a an automotive repair shop in one of the two structures uh the second structure is uh accompanying uh a contractor's yard uh it's safe to say that this is a large scale heavy industry use uh that employs up to 60 employees uh it has been such for decades now uh the the proposed use is a modern fivestory state-of-the-art uh state-of-the-art garage that will be utilized as a park and fly I have some Billboards here here this is a shot of the current use as it's currently exists another shot another photo of the parking area as it currently exists uh and we do have have a photo or rendition if you will of the proposed five-story parking garage that we hope takes its place uh for purposes of the record I did submit uh a detailed memorandum with exhibits uh that was dated January 21st of 2025 it's part of your package that memorandum explains all the legal reasons as to why this is a proposal that meets the legal requir requirments for this area so I won't be getting into those specifics but it has been submitted for your review and it's part of the record um again it's a five storage uh five-story facility it'll situate uh approximately 583 cars uh obviously the the size of it uh the and the number of cars it it it worries people right off the bat people are concerned about traffic um it's important to note that uh I we've met with uh councelor janino he asked for a traffic study uh we commissioned that traffic study uh about three weeks ago it's taken a few weeks to get the actual data the company's actually sent data researchers into the area they've uh looked at this site they've looked at the charger Street site and they've looked at the Squire Road uh signals um they found some interesting data that I think this city council will be interested in seeing uh the final report is not done yet but I can report that the current project as proposed it will actually reduce traffic congestion coming out of charger Street it will actually be a reduction compared to the uh heavyduty truck use that is currently uh emanating from this spot uh again that uh that traffic study will be ready hopefully over the next two days and it'll be submitted as a matter of public record uh once we have it in hand but again as far as the traffic what what I am telling the city council what will be borne out by this traffic study is that the current use is a better use for traffic uh coming out of charer Street it will it will be less impactful and actually have fewer trips than what's currently uh uh going on there today another key aspect of this project is projected revenues um it's important to note that the current site generates about about $90,000 a year in property taxes the new building will generate uh$ 270,000 in property taxes so will it will triple uh the property tax amount from 90 to 270 additionally uh it will create another near 120,000 in licensing fees the city of Rivier requires a $200 uh per parking spot fee that uh is ongoing and do every year so it will add roughly another $120,000 a year to the city's tax revenue uh that's a total of just under 400,000 a year in in taxes because of uh the new structure so we're going to have a situation where we have lesser less traffic less impactful traffic we're also going to have a situation where tax revenues are going to go from 90,000 to close to a minimum of 400 ,000 as a result of it and and uh and finally we have a uh a a family that uh has been in the city for a long time well known uh that uh is the developer of the project and uh they will be available uh for Neighbors uh for counselors and for other City individuals who have uh concerns or questions uh so this is not an outside uh uh vendor it is a home homegrown vendor from the city uh that is a quick summary uh uh we have many more charts many more many more data points to share we'll save them for uh the subcommittee meeting uh and uh but again I'm here for questions as well thank you any other proponents proponents hearing none we'll close that side opponents any opponents name and address for the council please good evening council president and councilors I am Christine Robertson I reside on charg Street on the residential side of charger street I'm sorry I did not have a lot of time to prepare I just found out about this on Saturday 160 I here regarding the public notice for RNs realy company for the project proposed for the commercial end of charger street I'm sure that you are all familiar with this area as there is a lot of truck traffic that frequents this establishment for the multiple businesses that are conducted there we put up with trash truck trucks not just on trash day as well as multiple construction trucks coming down the residential side of charger Street daily as they are headed towards that area we also put up with a very very loud banging noise every single night between midnight and 6:00 a.m. when the construction trucks hit the divot on Squire Road when they're taking the left turn from the traffic light on Squire Road how much more can this area take as far as cars trucks congestions emissions and noise many years ago when I was on the Conservation Commission I I walk this property it is vast and very very close to the marsh I am hoping that this request project will come before the Conservation Commission before any decision is made you also have to understand that a building of that size will change the water table from the marsh to the residential side we will get inundated with flood water thank you for listening and I cons and thank you for your consideration thank you ma'am just to clarify you said 116 charger your address 187 thank you any other opponents seeing and hearing none any city councilors councelor greenos thank you Mr President um I think this is a great project um it's located in the Ted district and where um the woman that spoke before us just said she on the opposite side of the highway so the water table's not going to go on the other side of chargers Street um this this is in the Ted district and this is where such a use is permitted with a special permit and right now it's being used as a commercial garage construction and Contracting storage facility this proposed project complements the character of the the character of the neighborhood and it's replacing the outdated structure with new attractive parking facility will modernize the site and it'll clean up the property not only that it'll eliminate the construction vehicles that are going back and forth and improve the conditions of the surrounding area without impeding its normal use um the project I think will enhance the accessibility and reduce parking congestion so I I think this is the perfect thing to build in that area so I I'm all for this thank you thank you counselor counc janino yeah I'm kind of fav also just for the mere fact that it's going to reduce the trucks in the area and on charer in Square Road and then we're going to work with the developers on this here try to improve the parking lot and the car flow in and out of that lot also there's no impact to the school system no impact to the police department and zero to the fire department so I'm kind of on board with it thank you councelor Council her um for the proponents if they're available um just had a question about potentially utilizing some of that top floor space for Renewables to ensure and you know potentially Renewables we can buy and help offset create some sort of Municipal uh Community solar or just to have they can sell it back to the city we can get a discount for you know at a trooper rate and we can provide pass that on to the taxpayer to the the rate payer is have you all considered anything like that I know it's what is it 20 how many what's the square footage up there uh the the decking is probably around 20,000 Square fet roughly but yeah we celor thank you for the question before I answer it though I did want to address one issue the the current the current operations will be removed so the complaints about the trucking and the heavy Trucking that'll be gone the the the construction yard will be eliminated uh from this site uh it's also important to note that the site currently situates two structures excuse me if everyone could please silence their phones for the meeting thank you so it's important to note that by removing all the trucks and the heavy equipment the traffic flow study will show that there's less of an impact in the area in fact it'll be an improvement okay so I I understand the complaints but that's a good thing this is actually making it better uh not worse in terms of the water table uh there still needs to go to conservation committee there are already two structures on the site that are going to be removed so uh you know we'll have Engineers they'll be working with conservation committee and the city uh engineer uh we we we expect no impact uh on drainage for the area but again we'll be working through it with the proper experts uh conel with regard to your question about solar it's it was an excellent question and we've actually done some due diligence on it and uh we've reached out to three different companies that are putting together some uh initial uh proposals for us uh it'll take a little while uh but I will say this as a precursor um we do believe that the r zoning ordinance needs to address it currently the r zoning ordinance has no provision for solar power energy um and so while it maybe a what we call in the profession a do protected uh use the reality is that currently if you look at the rever zoning ordinance it's a prohibited use because it's not listed so while we're fine and we're looking into it uh there'll need to be a a step done ahead of time by the city planners office City Hall and the city council if there is indeed uh an intent to amend the zoning ordinance to include solar in the state because currently your your ordinance does not reference it um but we are indeed willing to work with the city on that uh down the road when the time comes thank you Council and uh when you looked at that ordin do you happen to have a citation handy it's okay if you don't uh well it's your it's your uh 17 I believe your section 17 it's it's your your your currently the way your uh zoning ordinance is worded anything that is not listed as a use by either special permit or a right it's considered a prohibited use so so solar panels are not listed as an allowed use so they're automatically deemed prohibited I appreciate that thank you and it looks like maybe we have someone from um right behind you that can help us answer this question he I'm not an attorney but I play one on TV so um one one thing to consider and I was mentioned there is it is sort of a protected use under 40a section 3 no zoning ordinance or bylaw shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy except we necessary to protect the public health safety or welfare so I actually think this might be one of those instances where if we don't include it in our ordinance um the assumption is that that's an unreasonable prohibition of of solar installation so I actually think this would be considered thank you Tom councelor so so as a side matter it's it's great that the issues come up because I I agree with that you probably want to have some reflection on this topic and amend your local ordinance to allow it where you'd like because the way it's currently uh uh omitted it would allow someone to come in under a do act uh uh permit and place it anywhere in the city and you may not like where it get gets placed I tend to tell my communities that all the time with some of this stuff but it is an issue and I think the uh the issue is uh uh uh well described cribe so it's uh as a as an ancel member matter it's uh I think I think the council should deal with it thank you thank you councelor any other counselors okay this will be going in zoning on February 3rd at 5:00 p.m. calendar item number eight hearing called disordered on a petition submitted by National Grid to install one pole on Wilson Street beginning at a point approximately 129 ft Northeast of the center line of the intersection of Wilson Street and Rivier Beach Parkway and continuing approximately 30 ft in a Southeast Direction uh National Grid to install stub pole 65-1 in order to install a pole to pole guide wire between pole number 65-1 and pole number 6590 to prevent Pole 6590 from leaning a sidewalk guy will also be installed on stub pole 6591 to balance the tensil forces on both poles on Wilson Street in accordance with the plan on file any proponents uh Petra Jaa uh 170 Medford Street in Malden representing National Grid uh so National Grid is petitioning the installation of a stop pole number 651 659 D1 which would be used to have a poll to pole guywire in order to balance the pole 65 9 which is currently leaning we are uh National grd is also petitioning for a sidewalk guywire in order to balance the stop pole so that it also doesn't lean after that thank you any other the proponents any proponents closing that side any opponents one letter on file from Mr Steve capano who's a direct butter to the proposed poll location thank you any other opponents closing that side see counselors councelor McKenna thank you Mr President this is my wad I'm totally against uh what National Grid wants to do um it's a crooked poll um what they should do is come in and just change the poll uh and but because it's they're putting a Band-Aid on this uh what they because it's so hard for them to remove the companies that are on it so say there's five companies there's National Grid there's Comcast there's Verizon there's the police uh fire department so it takes a lot of work so they want to put a Band-Aid on this um no no no the poll is uh the poll 659 is also being replaced well you know what you should so this is what I say you want to take another poll and you want to put it across the street with a guide wire to hold the pole why don't you just take the pole under new poll and put it up instead of putting another pole across the street just put it up change the companies and call it a day no no that is actually happening so poll 659 is also being replaced but because there is a lot of polls uh that are in the backyard on the backyards of a lot of houses the the tension of those lines is causing the pole to lean so in order to balance that poll the new poll that is going to be put there they're also proposing the stop pole across the street so it's Mo it's basically they are replacing that pole and then they're also putting a stop pole in order to balance so that it doesn't lean again I don't I'm I'm sorry I don't agree with it I just think that you should fix the poll and I understand there's polls in the backyard I I didn't see a poll in the backyard to tell you the truth I didn't see any PS in the backyard I went down there the woman called me she was just concerned about the the the Leaning pole that's on the street uh sidewalk yes that one but that one is leaning because of the other poles that are there because we have because we have primary that is actually going to feed other houses cuz they are not being fed from the other streets that are nearby so what you're saying is you want to put two new poles in yes but one of them is already cross the street with the guide wire one one of them is already existing so it's being replaced and then the other one is just being installed I just think you should replace the Crooked um uh pole and call it a day thank you uh counselor I I believe that's what he's saying and I I think what he's saying is if they do replace the one for one it has the potential of Leaning again so they want to put the other one up for a guide am I correct yes okay I just I dealing with National Grid they just put Band-Aids on it and we've been dealing with this for I've been dealing with it for 10 years now I know there are new counselors that are still dealing dealing with it again I just think that they need to come back to the drawing table and find a different solution instead of putting two polls in we're trying to get rid of the polls um you know so I'm just I think they should go back to the drawing table and figure out what they want to do and and then come back to us thank you thank you counselor where am I any other counselors councelor has thank you Mr President I totally agree with councelor McKenna I've spoken to a resident there who was kind of like the spokesperson for the neighborhood totally against it he said the poll's been there for 60 years that was told to him from someone that worked for National Grid now I understand you're going to replace the current poll and then you're also going to add a stub pole and uh and a sidewalk yeah sidewalk guy wire yes it's so that's three things it is kind of required in order for the stle to also not lean it needs to be on the ground basically so you're replacing the current pole with two poles no no no the the current pole is being replaced by one pole and it needs a stop pole in order to install the guywire to that pole and it but because it usually it with the pole being replaced in order to combat the tension on the on one side we have a guy wire on this side but because it's right on the street the only option would be to put the stop pole on that side of the street and then put the sidewalk as well okay so on malen Street recently I saw that a leaning pole was repaired to some extent yeah and I don't know if anything else was put up um I didn't see any anyone I could talk to there I just saw that it was it wasn't leaning as much um I'd be curious to see if they use the certain strategy there I would love to see them just replace the poll you know I was told the poll leans after 60 65 years yeah um deal with it instead of having the residents to deal with more structures you know then we run into an issue we putting polls all over the city y we're already inundated with polls everywhere we don't even know what's going on with them but um I would love to see you guys come back with something that just says you replace the poll thank you thank you Council Council Cog Leandro thank you Mr President um sorry you're taking some heat tonight um I I know well when he shows up you know what I mean it's usually every other meeting um so I agree I think you should go back to the drawing board try to do this with one poll because to get you guys to fix something on a sidewalk or pave a road or something it's it's very difficult it's gotten to the point where we've had to have the the threat of revoking licenses or permits for you guys to get you to do things so you can understand our why we're so hesitant on something like this you want to dig up the other side now so right now it's a no for me if we're voting on this tonight thank you thank you counselor so if it's the will of the council we can vote this out tonight or we can put it in public safety and they can come back with a plan if it's the will of the council Madam can you roll call the vote shall the city council Grant the relief request Ed to install uh the new polls in accordance with the plan on file councel agenzio no no councel cogliandro no no councel janino no no councel greo SAA no no councelor h no no councelor Haro no no councelor Kelly is absent councelor McKenna no no councel noeli no no councel zambuto no no and council president sylvestri no no the petition by national grid for Wilson Street has been denied thank you thank you next up is Rule 34 public comment pursuant to chapter 402 of the acts of 1965 okay in this section anyone that's coming up to speak please give your name your address what motion you'll be speaking on each member will get two minutes and we'll begin now please come to the podium name and address and the mattera you'll be speaking on Sir uh my name is Anthony cantino and I live at 240 suffk Avenue Rivier Mass I see that the city council takes up a number of issues all sorts of issues but they can't seem to take up my issue regarding my mate and La hawker's license which is by the of police of R Massachusetts we discuss this every week well you're going to discuss it every week okay Hew thank you he answers my request for a ped Haw license in writing thank you thank you have a great night next name and address for the council please Ryan Rose 172 Kimble I'm here tonight in support of the HPP of course I made my heartfelt peen to advance the HPP back in December and don't need to repeat it I could highlight the wisdom of spe specific ideas within the report but I wanted to emphasize two quick overarching points instead one is that I understand that the next stop R report was criticized for a lack of community input um however this was rectified and then some in the HPP and in the midst of Crisis it would not be advant agous to Kick the Can down the road again when we have proven Solutions at our disposal lastly I was telling Ira about my current experience with an unethical landlord and when I told Carrie Schuman the story he couldn't believe it and insisted I tell the councel but you know what my specifics don't matter what matters is the direct link between our unhealthy housing market and this scarcity emboldening Bad actors like my landlord right now a landlord like mine can act with impunity because where else you going to go that's affordable but if we act deliberately and follow many of the reports recommendations or at least some of them the balance of power can shift to where people like me and thousands of others like me aren't as vulnerable I know it's not being voted on tonight but please Advance the HPP so we can improve a status quo that we all agree is untenable thank you for your continued service to our community and for tackling this extremely important issue thank you sir hi my name is April Tate and I live at 115 Oak Island Street in Rivier and I am also here to support the rhh plan um I have lived in R for about three and a half years and was very lucky with my timing and being able to purchase a home um when Co during covid when interest rates were low and there were small down payments that were acceptable which I think a lot of us know is no longer the case for both things um I do ask that the city council o supports this plan for four main reasons one is for us to be able to keep housing affordable for those who are currently living here um more than half of the folks in our city are renters and being able to support renters to be able to stay within our city is really important not only for our economy but also for our community of those folks that are currently living here um I know that I personally would not be able to afford being able to buy a house right now in rev um what I pay monthly for my three bedroom is what a one-bedroom rent is right now um and that's including taxes and mortgage and all the insurance and those things um and that's for a median one-bedroom so that is the middle one-bedroom not even the full one-bedroom as somebody who has a family and a daughter and pets and um I wouldn't probably be able to afford to rent right now and R not to mention own a home um constructing and rehabbing buildings and affordable housing and R would create job opportunities especially with some of the leniency in terms of expectation requirements um as folks know there's probably there's been a lot of projects that have been delayed due to just the pure cost of being able to build right now um things that are listed within the plan would allow us to be able to build affordable housing in the city which could create local jobs or at the very least have additional folks spending money within the city that are being employed on those projects third is lacking affordable housing creates situations like homelessness and displacement as somebody who works with folks experiencing homelessness in the Greater Boston Community I have directly seen how little how only having a little bit of affordable housing can then lead to people really having to fight for stability in their lives not only for their housing but for job and financial employ um empowerment so not only is this bad for the individual folks that are experiencing it but it is also bad for um taxpayers as additional taxpayer money is needed to support individuals to become rehoused and finally affordable housing creates a better Community for everyone when a household isn't burdened by having to be cost burden with our housing that disposable income can go towards long-term goals or to be spending money in our local community um affordable housing also has a direct impact on better health education and financial stability and I know that's what I want for our community and I hope that you all do as well thank you thank you do we have anyone else coming up to speak under rule 34 okay that closes that because they they city employees and union members and rols on city employees I clarify that with General because under the rule they wouldn't be allowed to speak to a nonr emplo speak after rule 23 the following motions or Communications are reported out of committee with a recommendation to be placed on file calendar item number nine Council order 24-35 an ordinance further amending food truck locations of the rier historical commission parking lot C thank you Mr President so I've um I've actually had a conversation with the chair the new chair um of this where this committee has been uh where this has been in committee uh and I've had some conversations with some folks from the Historical Society um which of course do operate quite a bit around um around the parking lot there so uh I would like it if we can send it back to EOD Dev for now while we brought perhaps more Communications I know want to have some follow-up conversations with the word counselor um the chair and I know that there's some folks here who um actually were the ones who presented the motion and um would like to wait as well at some point so U for now if we could just send it right back to EOD Dev and we can have a more robust conversation then I'd appreciate that thank you councelor councel McKenna thank you Mr President uh so this when this came up I am not against food trucks it's just the placement of food trucks and if they're going to you know one of the locations suggested was R historical commission during the times that the kids are playing in the uh it was like 3 o00 to 7:00 and those kids use uh Sunny Mayas Park all the time and they're outside and the fumes from the truck could hurt the health of these kids so I'm totally against the placement of it I'm not in I'm not against food trucks I just think that we need to find a better place for them to park in and do their um you know sell their product thank you Mr President thank you councelor Council Herman sorry I really appreciate the counselor's uh interjection in this matter and I know that this is her W and I want to be respectful with her which is why I'd love to have this conversation in committee but given that my kid actually plays at Sunny Meers Park and I frequent the area uh I would just like to note that there are plenty of places where we can plug in some of these cars that can pay back the electricity to the to the city Etc but again a discussion I think better fit for either this the legislative subcommittee or the economic development subcommittee uh and I really do appreciate the counselor's concern you thank you councelor as the maker of the motion you can either remain this in committee or place on file committee would be great Mr President will remain in committee I'd like to suspend the rules and bring up Communication number we're got to vote on suspending the roof ah yes I I wanted to find where I wanted to skip to sorry about that councel a motion of suspend the rules yeah I'd like to bring up a motion to suspend the rules no I just yeah yeah all in favor all opposed to suspend the rules and if we could bring up Council Communication number 21 calendar item number 21 communication from the mayor requesting approval of an act relative to the appointment of the chief of police of the city of Rivier somehow Mr cantino finds this funny well uh good evening honorable councel thank you for having me Mr katano please um thank you Mr President and thank you honorable Council uh you you've seen the communication and I don't think that it requires a lot of um of understanding but what I do want to do is give you a little bit of the backstory as to the rationale uh and as always in everything that I do and everything that we try to do we want to do it with the utmost respect and ensuring that we are professionalizing and bringing on nothing but the very best to our city not that doesn't change when it comes to of the most important departments in our community as you can see right behind me we have about 107 uh fine men and women that represent our community in a public safety standpoint we want to have the best chief of police to represent that body as we continue to grow as a city and as we continue to evolve I want to make sure that that process is professional is rigorous and is extremely competitive that's why I'm asking for the special act change this doesn't mean that we would go outside of the department just because of it it we would say we would continue to have a vigorous internal candidate process and allow external candidates to apply as we all know if you want to be the best you must beat the best and when you work in a competitive setting the person that is competing against you is going to bring you up another level so this process will strengthen our internal candidates this process will expand to more internal candidates and this process will bring when if and when we do need a new police chief the very best to our department that the city deserves the police department deserves and our entire uh uh Council and body deserves so I hope that you would uh support me in this and and I certainly don't expect this decision to be made in a bubble I'll be available I've already offered myself available to the entire body both unions representative the patrol Union and Superior offices and of course each counselor uh wishing to speak or ask me any questions I'd be happy to in legislative affairs and lastly I do want to remind the the entire Council no matter what we do for an appointment from the mayor's office the council still needs to approve the appointment so again there'll be no nefarious intentions as a matter of fact I never bring this up when I in front of front of the council or city business I've talked about politicizing the poli police department when I was becoming elected and I said that that's one of the most uh frustrating Parts I've witnessed as a resident of the city for over 21 years I've witnessed our Police Department continued to be polarized from political candidates as a matter of fact I believe that most of them have been used by political candidates and I'm trying to end that I'm trying to create a much more truthful process rigorous to again bring the most qualified candidate to represent all of us and this honorable body of police men and women that's all I'm asking for thank you very much thank you Mr Mayor all right anyone else wanted to speak on the communication please come forward name and [Music] record good evening uh my name is sent Dennis siki Rivier Police Department I am the vice president of the uh Rivier police Superior Officers Association to my right is President Joan niola also a sergeant to my left is Lieutenant zagarella who is the uh Treasurer and um we are here in opposition on the record uh to the mayor's proposal to um repeal section three of chapter 102 uh we're going to make it short um what we really uh kind of want to get forth uh to you folks is that we believe that the mayor truly has our best interest in mind we we we fully understand that we just um don't agree that this is the right decision to make uh as as it sits right now we have 33 members of our Superior officers um Union who um comprise a body of more than eligible candidates um together I mean if you if you aggregate some of their experience we're talking hundreds of years not just in policing but policing the city of Rivier and I think that that's a metric that really um is invaluable to choosing the um the the chief uh of the city of Rivier um we uh we come forth and and just want to open it up to any questions you may have but just understand that this sort of was sprung on us last week we didn't have too much time to digest a lot of the information we'd like to give you well-informed um answers but that might not happen at this point so to say yep thank you Sergeant just to add to that uh Joe and tacola again rier police for 20 years um we checked our personal feelings at the door we're here representing the men and women of the riv Police Department especially the super Superior officers Union and we just believe that this will although I think noble cause I think just that it would adversely affect the members of our police department and especially uh members of our Union that have dedicated upwards of you know we have a member upwards of 35 years on the job um waiting for maybe their chance and so if it wasn't for that reason and and again this we just caught wind to this we haven't even had an opportunity to have a meeting to really discuss this with every each and every member but uh I think the the show of of force in the back of the room S suggest that we're all pretty much on the same page and believing that the adverse effect it would have and unintentionally of course but we just want you to consider that thank you anything else any councilors want to weigh in councelor janino thank you we co the sale last Wednesday also I think it's a good idea but I think the timing is wrong on it I think being at the end of a or chiefs Chief's contract basically and decided to renew it or not and all the change the rules mid game we have officers that have been studying for tests for the last year year and a half two years hoping to get promoted when it with a change overcoming and now they worked with well we make an outsider in here I think the timing is wrong on it I like to talk to the patrolman about it talk to the superior officer about it and at a later date discuss it not right now counselor and thank you um I know that uh the hopes is that this would go to uh your one of your committees to further discuss but just to uh re remind you and um there's not a test to be the police chief in the city of R currently um but there would be uh more of the body the superior officer body more than likely the entire panel would be eligible to become a police chief so that would actually expand the opportunities for the current uh department but again I know that this could go back and forth and we can certainly discuss more uh and the last piece when you said the timing you're 100% right it's difficult to prioritize everything you want to do more so uh my my our department and the city really thinks that it's about being a little bit more proactive in the approach on this so that we can be ready for a succession planning when that time comes that may not come for some time that could come you know we have a current police chief that's under contract and I don't want to Discount that he's a very fine man uh and he is under contract he he may renew his contract he may decide that he doesn't want to do this anymore he may get picked up by another department because most cities and towns take people from other cities uh so you never know he might go to a fellow neighboring Community to be the next police chief or he may just stay here and and and sign another new contract but we want to have it at the ready if and when we do need that thank you councelor thank you councelor councelor C Leandro thank you Mr President um looking at chapter 102 we're trying to remove section three in its entirety so I am not in agreement with removing the necessity to be a Riv police officer I've born and raised in this city I went to school with some of these guys Chief Callahan was my resource officer when I see him I I get a sense of comfort that yes this man has been here up through the ranks and I know who he is he knows the city the thought of having somebody come from outside of the city to run our city makes me uncomfortable uh and I also when police they they some of them are happy just staying in control but some of them want to rank up and it's going to make that harder to do that if we don't internalize this and build the ranks up from within I also think that that might be bad for morale and I've been told that this could potentially mean that people are going to leave the department because there's no room for growth um I am okay with removing the the rank requirement and opening that up a little bit um we have sergeants that have been on for a very long time time that could be considered and I I so I can't support it the way it sits I'm hoping we can discuss modifying that um I get the best of the best approach and I respect you Mr Mayor you know that I just disagree with it thank you thank you counselor Council green o thank you Mr President Mr Mayor I have the utmost respect for you but I respectfully disagree with you on this one um an internal candidate is already familiar with the Department's culture its operation and its challenges which allows them to step into the role without the need for extensive training you're taking somebody from outside the city we need to teach them about the city of Riv for example police officers in Riva know their City they know the residents and they know the individual needs of each section of the city of Riv by taking somebody from outside they're going to have to learn all this and it's going to it's going to take a longer process a police chief from within will offer will often have established trust and rapport with the officers the staff and the community fostering unity and a high morale additionally an internal hire understands the unique needs and dynamics of the city and the sections of each city of of the city that they serve so what they would need in Beach M would be different than what they would need in Riverside but these officers have been here they've worked here they've they've established what each part of the city needs so it's really I think an important factor to keep it within the city of Rivier and with these officers that have given up so much of their time already um promoting from within can also motivate other officers by demonstrating a clear pathway for career advance advancement and by taking it away from them and going to other cities looking for a new Chief why would they want to stay in Riv when there's no room to become Sergeant no room to become Chief no room to become Lieutenant you know what I'm saying to me I think it's really important for us to keep it within the city and respect the offices that do serve us thank you thank you councelor Mr Mayor thank you counselor and thank you Mr chair through you to the counselor um I don't disagree with you I think it would certainly be harder to bring an outsider in uh it's more of just having the option to and this could be again if there was in case of glass uh uh in case of emergency break glass moment um unfortunate Scandal or corruption and I'm not suggesting there's any of that you don't want to have to be reactive at that point in time to have this again it does bring the awareness of competitiveness to be able to see outside of your four walls in what else is going on out there and I do want to remind you there are over 33 Superior officers this there is plenty of upward Mobility for the current Force as a matter of fact the percentage of superior offices and Riv is greater than all of our surrounding communities it goes to show you that we invest in our Superior offices and we will continue to do that we will not lose a superior officer position in the union that will stay the police chief is not a union position again I just want to remind you more than likely in this has been my track record this has been our track record we are hiring the best candidate more often it is an internal C candidate we just did that with the DPW superintendent after a rigorous process of interviewing many outside candidates that may have even had more experience but we felt that the in experience internally and the growth potential that we had with the internal candidate outweighed that we'll continue to do that with any police chief candidate more often than not someone in our system right now will have a lot more institutional knowledge with rier and a lot more camaraderie and understanding of the troops so it would be an easier transition for all of us and I would be willing to say at a high percentage of the time certainly I don't plan on doing this very often uh I hope to not do it at all but uh it would be more than likely an internal candidate and I just want to reiterate this is only to have the opportunity to interview outside if we needed to there would always be a ref a pres preference for an internal candidate I will I will assure you that and we will make sure that that's spelled out in the interview and selection process thank you Mr Mayor councilor McKenna thank you Mr President president um I agree if you exhaust um the interviews with all the candidates in Riv Police Department then yeah maybe we should look outside but I can think of most of these guys kids I had in school you know they've grown up in rier and um I believe there are candidates in this department that qualify to be be the chief of police and I do believe sergeant said uh when he came up here he said you know born and raised in R better to be in R you know the city you know the people and I probably get some heat for this but I know that I was a better teacher coming from R knowing R growing up in R knowing the kids than a teacher from uh Newberry Port so um I just think these guys have worked years and years and years and they know the system they know the people uh you know I've seen officers go up to a guy and say hey Lou what's up what are you doing here and I'm like and you know we you need to get off the corner and I'll be like wow you know him oh yeah we deal with him all the time I you know an outsider would say okay you get off the corner but Lou got off the corner because because the officer knew um Lou so and there was no hassles or anything so I just think that if you exhaust the interviews then it's fair to look outside but I think there are qualified many qualified uh police officers in this in this city that deserve to be Chief thank you Mr Mayor uh Mr President through you to the counselor uh I don't disagree with you there and again um I'm friends with some of these men woman uh and as we said leaving the emotions at the door I cook with them I I care very much uh very deeply about all of them that's why I want nothing but the very best to represent them as a chief uh they're they're they're asked to go out and do tasks that none of us would do and so I respect that uh and yes if there there was a a fair compromise that we could come up with by repealing this act and adding in the language that after all exhaustive measures are made excuse me Mr Mayor Mr cantino if you can't stand there like a a a man and not make comments and and play the violin you're going to have to leave please you know why I'm playing the viol I don't care why you're playing the violin it's not time to play the violin I'm asking you to please step outside you be to zuba not the viol okay please sit down and leave the chambers thank you rules I not right now Mr President uh and and again M Council McKenna um if that was a stipulation uh after any internal candidates were exhausted because they didn't meet a certain criteria I think that that would be a nice um uh add add-on but again it would be the requirement of repealing this act and we can work on a criteria together and that's the hopes is I'm not looking to push this through tonight uh I would like to have more dialogue in in whatever committee most likely I would imagine legislative affairs or whatever the president decides to do uh and we can have um good uh deliberation together the union and have brought up uh strong points when it said uh they haven't had a chance a lot of time to digest this um as you know we put motions forward and then they get put up and three three four days by the packet comes up by the time the pack it comes out but that's the hopes as we have honest open discussion on what's in the best interest of our city and our Police Department thank you Mr mayor council H thank you Mr President thank you Mr Mayor for being here um I always appreciate thinking outside the box as you know um for my creative ways um this however I'm not sure if I can support looking outside the city to bring someone in to lead the Rivier Police Department you know I've had so many great relationships with rier Chiefs over the years um many of the rier officers I call friends I play basketball with our kids play tball together you know things like that once you bring an outside an outsider in from another department Department you're already playing catchup in my eyes you'll have to show them the areas the locations um all the community members all the community leaders so you're already behind the eightball in a sense um that it's a tough one but I think this should stay within the department I'm sure that from what I've heard there are a few qualified individuals um but I think this should stay in house thank you thank you counselor permission to speak from the chair thank you um this is this is a tough one and and um at first glance I I was in favor um in in recent history I believe the body president of the Union was also in favor of going outside of the city um I believe that at times it's it's something that has been supported by the by the body obviously here tonight it's it's against um but being an active duty military member I think we're taking a huge disservice out of I know you're all here against this but I I got to be honest everyone here tonight is basically saying none of you men and women could go into another city and police and I believe that is false I don't think you would be behind the eightball I don't think you wouldn't be able to do your job and that's my professional opinion as us as professional police officers so that's why I I just that part I I I kind of am like I understand wanting to keep it within but saying that you all couldn't go to another department and be successful I don't I don't think that's right so um I think we heard a lot of I at least over the weekend heard a lot of supports even within the department for pieces of this and a lot against parts of it um I believe that we should talk more about it I believe the department should have more time to digest it sit with the mayor take the pieces that they appreciate take the pieces that they like and and and move it forward if they agree to so um if it's the will of the body we can roll call it Mr President I think this should go into committee Doo I agree um I I think it gives both parties the opportunity to sit and come to uh an agreement uh or whether or not um so M Mr President Mr President yes I I didn't have a chance to speak I just have a proceed I apologize no it was my fault um I just have a procedural question If This Were to pass and and it went you know opened up the U to other candidates from outside the city right now I know it's limited to captains and lieutenants that have been there for five years if I'm speaking correctly now does that open if we do pass it does that open up to everyone even non-p police offices Mr Mayor thank you uh M thank you Mr um Mr President uh through you to the counselor so this is repealing the act which currently restricts it to captains or lieutenants with five years experience so a lieutenant with four years experience or a sergeant with 20 years experience would not be eligible um but we would we would then ask and this would be the Assurance is to establish a new criteria uh criteria based on yes there would need to be some supervisory experience I think that in what that dictates and how that goes would be um would be up for debate we would have some dialogue uh and again utilizing uh areas like assessment centers um and making sure that we have a thorough interview process but again this is not to make a decision in a bubble so that's why I think that it is would be nice to get your reassurances and legislative affairs I did have some um I did have some more materials to provide to you if you would like we can send to the council and you can continue to digest it um and also attorney capy sent over a legal memo just kind of documenting the facts on this but it definitely expands the candidate pool but sure do you do you think that a one-year Patrol person would be eligible to be Chief I don't know if that I would discount them that much but I don't think that they may be ready for the task um and uh we would want to have a proper Pro protocol in place again like many cities and towns around us I can't think of one around us that doesn't have that option very rarely as we all know because I think the preference would always be to stay internally is that the case but the same thing goes for you know bringing on a new officer um the old days of they they were always here is sort of changing as we know it's been more difficult to find um Public Safety people so you have to tr you have to try to make sure you're uh amending to the change of what's going on in the environment and that's all I'm asking for you to do tonight thank you thank you Mr Mayor so yes Council clando thank you for the leeway Mr President um Mr I through you to Mayor Keefe in regards to creating criteria for the position because that that part I'm in favor of um would this be something that would be an ordinance for the city so that would be a special it would be well the repeal of the special act would would just be changing that special act for the time being sections one and two would still stay um but section three would be we were I'm asking for it to be stricken but if you were if if again if the uh would be an amendment to the ACT we could certainly work on something like that Paul I don't know if you wanted to I just want to say that right now in front of you or what's being proposed is the repeal of the existing special act that's it excuse me don't you take people not in line or you just pick they just jump Mr cantino I already said you're not going to speak on this manner please well you there suspension of rules I mean please sit down Mr cantino please sit down out of the in front of me kind say we can we can I just uh if I if I could just if I could just clarify I wasn't asking about modifying this I just want clarification on creating these guidelines are we going to then bring this back to modify the home Ru petition again with new guidelines or are we going to keep that in house the home home r ition just so everybody's clear and I try to say this in my memo it's a state law that's created specifically for this purpose it is not necessary to manage or staff or make up compositions by hom petition only we can certainly do it by ordinance or by policy so I just wanted to make that clear yeah we we already have a staffing ordinance that in the we already have a police department composition ordinance on the books now this was done separate and apart my guess is so that nobody could then make any amendments to it without going through a more lengthy process to amend the special act which by the way doesn't happen overnight usually happens if you're lucky once a year if you can get it thank you counselor any other counselors okay we're going to send this to legislative affairs original the subtitute to ref to have to okay to take up to take up the substitute motion that Council Zan buo put on the floor to to send this to legislative affairs Madam could we have a roll call I thought it might be legislative affairs in public safety but that's up to you legislative affairs thank you shall the city council refer this matter to legislative affairs councelor agenzio no no councelor cogliandro no no councel janino no no councel green OA no no councelor h no no councelor hero no no councelor Kelly is absent councelor McKenna yes yes Council noeli yes yes Council zambuto yes yes and council president sylvestri yes yes the motion to refer to this matter to legislative affairs fails the original motion on is now on the floor FL for a roll call on the matter roll call on the matter please shall the city council approve an act relative to the appointment of the chief of police of the city of Rivier councelor agenzio no no councelor cogliandro no no councel janino no no councelor greo SAA no no councelor h no no councelor Haro no no councelor Kelly is absent councelor McKenna no no council naseli present voting present Council zambuto no voting no and council president sylvestri no no the special act [Applause] fails now back to the order of business okay we're going to take a brief two minutes e e e e e e e e e e e back to the regular order of business Mr President motion to suspend the rules can we take up item number 24 as um it's just an appointment as the woman is three and a half uh 39 and a half weeks pregnant please I'm only okay with that if she's actually 40 weeks presentant 39 and half 40 40 41 L's on the suspension of rules to bring up the appointment of Dora howlet to the conf conservation committee uh 24 calendar item number 24 motion presented by Council McKenna that the city council pull from the appointment subcommittee the appointment of Dora Hallet odonahue to the Conservation Commission and move to confirm Council McKenna thank you Mr President D are you going to look at me I'm I'm the uh chairman uh so um I just want to know you going to bring to uh the conservation uh commission yeah of course so my do I need to say where I live anything before no so you just tell you have to you have to say your name and your address okay so D Hala 261 rice Avenue R and so I've worked in energy and infrastructure for about 12 years at this stage okay so I bring a long history basically of how things are actually constructed from the ground up and how you actually even go about getting the permit in the environmental side of everything um I've seen projects through from Greenfield where you're talking about Renewables the entire way through to actually when they're operational so I feel like I bring a great strength of Knowledge from that aspect I've worked throughout the US I've worked in other countries as well so it's also bringing Insight from other jurisdictions outside of just R so thank you very much I can see you're Oahu you're from Ireland I originally Ireland yes I can tell that little accent I can hear it so I love it uh but thank you for coming thank you for waiting it's been a long meeting for everybody and I know there's a lot of appointments and we'll get to you we will get to you so thank you for coming and we're going to vote this out uh favorably um as a whole y thank you uh anybody else coun Zan buo uh thank you Mr President and and thank you for wanting to serve and you sound like you'll be perfect for the job so thank you very much thank you Council green o thank you Dora I really appreciate you waiting today and I know you're going to be a great asset to our Conservation Commission thank you on the appointment of Dora howlet to the conservation committee all in favor all opposed I I so congratulations thank you very much back to the regular order of business do you want to just take up the appointments and let yes absolutely been waiting since uh take them all up take them all up since we're on we're in a suspension of rules I would like the clerk to read all the appointments and we'll take them all at once if in favor thank you calendar item number 12 communication from the mayor relative to the appointment of Robert F Upton Jr to the historical Commission on the appointment of Bob Upton all in favor all opposed so AED congratulations Bob thank you Bob for serving calendar item number 13 communication from the Mayor Bob go home relative communication from the mayor relative to the reappointment of Anthony Peroni to the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners on the appointment of Anthony Peroni all in favor all opposed congratulations Anthony [Music] congrats calendar item number 14 communication from the mayor relative to the appointment of Brendan O'Brien to the historical commission is Brendan here tonight he is congratulations thank you on the appointment of Brendan O'Brien all in favor all opposed so AED congratulations calendar item number 15 communication from the mayor relative to the reappointment of Rich V to the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Council McKenna rich rich V if you want to I we're not ask Rich Vis all in favor all oppos I so order congratulations Rich calendar item number 16 community Comm unication from the mayor relative to the appointment of el Baker to the historical Commission on the appointment of el Baker all in favor all oppos I congratulations calendar item number 17 communication from the mayor relative to the reappointment of Joanne McKenna to the public art commission Council McKenna is recused from discussion on this matter Challenge on the appointment of Joanne McKenna all in favor all opposed now I would really like to speak no I'm only kidding I'm only kidding congratulations thank you calendar item number 18 communication from the mayor relative to the appointment of Jeff Pearlman to the historical Commission on the appointment of Jeff Jeff Pearlman all in favor all opposed I so order congratulations Mr Pearlman calendar item number 19 communication from the mayor relative to the reappointment of John Venia to the board of assessors appointment of John Bia all in favor all opposed so awarded congrats Mr President Mr President can I just say that I've read every single resume of all these appointments and they're so unbelievably uh qualified it's just amazing so I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to speak tonight because I would have asked you some grueling questions but um thank you for serving we really appreciate it thank you thank you councelor McKenna councelor H thank you Mr President and I'd also like to say that everyone that was appointed is a staple in the city thank you for all that you do for the city and its residents thanks thank you Council calendar item number 25 motion presented by Council McKenna that the city council pull from the appointment subcommittee the reappointment of Hal ABS to the planning board and move to confirm Hal Abrams can stand up is he here we're not going to let you speak but we're we're gonna we're going to approve it tonight so um mark on the appointment of Hal Abrams all in favor all oppose I thank you calendar item number 26 motion presented by councilor M that the city council pull from the appointment subcommittee the reappointment of Megan Simmons to the planning board and move to confirm appointment of Megan Simmons hurling thank you Megan all favor all opposed so ordered and lastly for appointments this evening calendar item number 27 motion presented by councel McKenna that the city council pulled from the appointment subcommittee the reappointment of Dean Harris to the affordable housing trust fund board and mooved to confirm thank you Dean Harris appointment of Dean Harris all in favor all oppos I so ordered now back to the regular order of business now you guys don't have to stick around you can go home we're still under uh rule this is for the rule 23 section the following motion is reported out of committee with a recommendation to be placed on file calendar item number 10 motion presented by councilors C Leandro Gino SAA McKenna and council president sylvestri that the city council requests the city solicitor to draft special legislation providing for four-year terms of office for city council and school committee beginning in the municipal election to take place in 2027 Council cogliandro uh there's a reason that it never came out of subcommittee and uh I would like to place this on file it's it's not a good idea placed on file all in favor all [Music] opposed next up is the committee of the whole report on the committee of the whole report today we had before us um Zach uh the director of parking who went over his new parking plan which is um referred to committee and we also had uh Tom um sari from the economic development who came before us and discussed the um housing plan and that will be going to zoning calendar item number 20 communication from the mayor's office relative to amendments to chapter 2.57 of the revised ordinances of the city of R is any oh okay name and address Rose Burns uh 281 Broadway mayor's office um so I here to speak on behalf of the mayor's office regarding amendments to chapter 2.5 seven of the revised ordinances of the city of rir which outlines the duties of the Parks and Recreation Commission so I bring this before you in response to councelor Areno and haro's motion that we begin to fill the vacancies of the Parks and Recreation Commission we have since approved this motion and feel that it is important to take this step forward however as you may know the commission has been inactive for quite some time when we took a look back at the ordinance we realized that it was last updated decades ago and its terms did not completely apply to our EXP expectations of the future commission so myself and our policy writer and analyst drafted up um a new um amendment of it that um I think you all have in front of you um the changes made include having the Parks and Recreation director as a non-voting ex official member the guidance of this Advisory Board will be critical as the input of members of our community will help us to know how to best serve them and their children a commissioner's role activates them to to be communicative with the public and see the impacts they make come to fruition the most important new aspect we want to emphasize is the commission powers and duties section which explains that the board will help to make meaningful improvements um in their decisions around youth events youth sports activities and open space in the city of Rivier um this could include hypothetically helping to find funding and grants for Park improvements or plan events like the fall festival or trunker tree along with the Parks and Recreation Department and the mayor's office um I am happy to answer any and all questions you may have on this and want to thank the council again for bringing this to our attention thank you thank you any counselors thank you Mr President I'd like to thank the mayor and I'd like to thank you Miss Burns for uh for addressing this uh it's it's been a interest of mine for quite a few years I think the um changes you've made are excellent I'm fully support I imagine this is going to go to subcommittee um I just like a little clarification like how many times a year it's going to meet maybe maybe we can put a little amendment in at least maybe six times a year or yeah for sure I'm not sure if other boards or commissions have the frequency of their meetings written into their ordinances that's something I would have to look into it usually does depend on the demand of each board as well as you know the you just and it would be an official board where the public can come up and speak and the council yeah so that that's all up to whatever ends up happening as thank you very much for all the effort you put into it of course excellent M thank you Council M president Council noski thank you Mr pres Mr President I'm so glad you this was brought up uh I was a member of this board before I was on the city council and I was the chairman for seven years and we were very active and the only thing that we really did was oversee everything up at the stadium and we had Lee Rizzo was the director at the time and everything went so well he brought everything before us and we made sure that everybody was covered and I think it's very important that we bring this up forward again and put some good people on there so thank you very much thank you Council Council Amo thank you Mr President thank you uh to our former vice president for the leeway after he skipped over me I'm joking he's not even paying attention anyway uh thank you Rose I really appreciate this ordinance you know uh I know that um the administration come down and speak against our initial ordinance a few times um and uh it's nice that something's come of that uh would have loved some additional inclusion but of course I think that reforming this particular matter was really good um and um I'm glad that uh you know the work that councilor oreno myself did did not go unnoticed and that the mayor acted on this um so you know with that I just have some questions um related to this uh to the commission I know that there's also there's been there's so much stuff that's going on in terms of um boards and I don't want to add too many too many people to this particular board but uh I know that in our the initial motion I don't have in front of me we had filed uh we tried and aimed to be to have some sort of equity and have some young people on the board as well right um I don't know if the mayor would be willing to include that um into this uh Composition terms that you have in section right um that could totally be added I think what you may be referring to is that we eliminated the one member of our youth from the original ordinance um and that was only done as an effort to not limit how many members of our youth could be in it so I think I don't know how many exact I think it's six or seven members of are going to be on this board it could be six members of our youth um it doesn't so I I I appreciate that and I think that that's um important but as you can understand and you know I was a youth I grew up being as a youth organizer here in the city young people as you know often are left out by a mission um and we're not naming the folks who have been historically left out of something that is very relevant to them then we may be omitting them by accident because just like there could be seven members or six members that are youth there could be six members that are not Youth and um you know I think this is a very very important piece uh that for you know something as important as the parks and re commission uh we might consider again you know I think this is going back to committee I'd love to talk to the mayor a little bit more about maybe making some inclusion naming some some folks who I think would be important for this revamped version I I actually really appreciate your work on this is this looks really good and um really at the Spirit and the intent of our original ordinance so um that that councelor orio and I propose so um Mr Mayor Mr uh Mr President back to you thank you Rose appreciate thank you counselor and um I believe this is going to public hearing on the 24th of February thank you Rose calendar item number 22 communication from the chief of planning and Community Development relative to a zoning ordinance amending the city's accessory dwelling unit regulations audit to a public hearing calendar item number 23 communication from the city auditor relative to a loan order for water system improvements in MW lead replacement project in the amount of 1, 875,000 name and address good evening Richard viske 281 Broadway CFO um this is a loan program run through the MW for us to address uh lead Services throughout the city it is um request of 1.875 million it's a program that comes with zero interest for 10 years and up to 25% of this loan would be uh forgivable within the terms of uh the the loan itself um we prepared to speak more on this at the public Heen but um happy to answer any questions in the meantime any questions from the council order to a public hearing calendar item number 28 motion presented by Council nelski that the mayor instruct the rier police department to provide and install pole mounted solar speed machines on on sish Road near 48 SSH Road for eastbound traffic and on Centennial La for westbound traffic near 15 Centennial La councelor thank you Mr President Mr President uh unfortunately this I put this in two and a half years ago and it was never taken up by the uh police department and I get complaints constantly in sish Road and Centennial Avenue I know we're doing traffic coming and with uh you know with Tom in you know uh planning but you know this is ridiculous that we are totally ignored by certain department heads and I think it's important that we get these machines up there and slow the people down they have to know how fast they go and one of these days some kids going to get killed it's going to be a major accident and then I'll be able to say I told you so I don't want to have to do that so please uh pass this and make let's get the police chief on the on the stick thank you thank you councelor any other counselors all in favor all opposed so ordered calendar item number 29 motion presented by councelor agenzio that the mayor request the DPW and engineering department to reconstruct or modify the speed bump recently installed on Mountain Avenue near the intersection of kilber Street there have been numerous complaints that the speed bump is too high and causing damage to vehicles coun aren thank you Mr President um I appreciate we've been doing speed bumps now over the last few years and I appreciate the effectiveness of them um this one for some reason uh was constructed a little bit too high and cars and even SUVs are bottoming out a lot of complaints from the neighborhood uh uh Mountain Avenue certainly needed one uh that's for sure uh so if they could just modify it a little bit uh I think it it would go a long way to satisfy the neighborhood thank you thank you councel Council Cog Leandro thank you Mr President I just want to Echo what councelor agenzio said I drove over the speed bump and uh it's pretty steep when you get to the top so I agree something needs to be done to rectify that thank you thank you counselor all in favor all opposed so ordered calendar item number 30 motion presented by Council noeli that the mayor request the city solicitor to draft an ordinance regulating the placement installation and removal of satellite dishes counc noi thank you Mr President Mr President once again this was uh put in over two years ago and you know I get a lot of complaints from people seeing these satellite dishes on the side of houses they got 9 10 12 dishes and half of them aren't being being utilized now I know there's federal law about it but there is something that we can do internally to control them to make people take them down when they're through you using them and specifically the landlords because they're the ones that allowed them to go up in the first place so I you know I'm trying to get the city solicitor to do an ordinance to control this it doesn't help the looks of our city and I think it's about time we took care of it so I ask every everybody to uh vote on this and get the city solicitor to work on it thank you thank you councelor any other counselors all favor all oppos so ordered calendar item number 31 motion presented by councilors McKenna and Areno that the mayor request the police department to display a sign board for at least seven days prior to the date of a traffic commission public hearing to inform residents of major changes occurring on their street or in their neighborhood not everyone reads the local paper and therefore would not be aware of the traffic commission public hearings C thank you Mr President so uh a couple of weeks ago uh we were in the uh traffic commission um they uh got a change in um Wilson Street for a one-sided parking and the signs went up the next day and um not like like the motion says not everybody reads the local paper so notifying the residents of the chamber changes of their street in their neighborhood are uh would would are not being communicated so residents come home and they find these changes so a sign board from the the police would help uh communicate the changes and it's only for a week the changes that are going to be um done either in their neighborhood or on the streets so uh because with they're not getting we're not getting communication I'm not getting communication they're not getting communication so uh there's a real problem in the city with communication so um I'm just asking for a signboard from the uh R police thank you councelor councelor Areno uh thank you Mr President just briefly uh I was the chairman of the traffic commission for six years and and we ran into this a lot we would make major changes to oneway streets parking restrictions overnight parking and it kind of took the residents by surprise so I I think this is a great motion uh thank you Council McKenna for including me um and that's it thank you thank you counselor any other counselors councelor green o thank you Mr President I just want to say this is an amazing motion and I really appreciate both of you putting this in thank you counselor all in favor all oppos so ordered calendar item number 32 motion presented by councelors Haro and Ino SAA that the city council ordered to a public hearing an ordinance relative to improving public health and accessibility to healthcare products in the city of rier uh Council hero thank you Mr President first up can we uh I would like to add um president sylvestri to the motion as a co-sponsor um you know this is I've been uh talking to some young people in in the city about the accessibility of feminine products and um you know I think mostly everybody can uh relate with the need uh to have for example toilet paper in the public restrooms uh you know while feminine products is not a thing that I personally use um I can't imagine not living with toilet paper in public restrooms and so counselor guino SAA and now um coun and council president sylvestri and I have been working on this ordinance to expand a program that's already happening in the schools to all public restrooms uh within the city uh with that I will hand it off to my colleagues uh who are co-sponsoring this motion um to speak on them if they so wish thank you Council councel greenos thank you Mr President thank you ju um Council harryo um we still have a long way to go with this motion there's a lot of they are being U it is being already implemented in the schools in rier but there are some things that we have to fix like they're not being replaced on time things things like that and there's a lot of public money that is available so we have to look into more grants that are available to help us out with this program but it's it's a very very important program for all our students and residents of the city or anybody who is going into any public facility in the city of Rivier thank you thank you councelor permission to speak from the chair thank you um I'll save the majority for what I have to say to to the public hearing um um but currently it's a school it's a state law in Massachusetts that schools have to have feminine products in the schools so I believe that expanding that to to other public buildings or city buildings is is a necessity and one that I believe my daughters would approve of um so all in favor all opposed this will be sent to a public hearing on February 24th I Mr President could I have a more moment of a personal privilege Council speak moment I'd just like to take a minute and acknowledge the passing of a longtime Rivier resident and city of Rivier employee uh Joan Chate she passed away uh last week uh she was a dedicated member of the public works department and she was the head of the water sua billing division for a long time so I just like to acknowledge her maybe have a little moment of silence for her thank you counselor if you'd all join in a moment of silence thank you thank you Mr President thank you councelor calendar item number 33 motion presented by councelor McKenna that the city council invite Deborah neeland of four kids only to conduct a presentation at the February 3rd city council meeting relative to the grant four kids only has received provide additional services for after school programs in the city of Rivier Council McKenna thank you Mr President um so everybody drives down Broadway and sees this beautiful building it says F KO but no one really knows what's inside or what the people are doing inside this motion is to bring Deb Deborah Keelan up she's the executive director for of for kids only in front of the public and speak speak about the grant that she just for uh for after school programs that she just received from the state um and it's just to give a little insight because um people really don't know that what happens in that uh building so um she got a grant she wants to bring it out to the public because there are kids in need uh the kids that are abused uh homeless kids that would benefit from this grant and she just wants to put it out in the public so it gets uh you know acknowledged and maybe some of those kids from the schools could come after school for for free and and attend her programs so uh this is just for uh uh the public to be notified thank you thank you councelor Christine Robertson 187 charger street I'm sorry ma'am that's that would have been at the ru 34 oh sorry I just want to let you know that that program is fabulous I've had several family Meers thank you so much ma'am councelor McKenna any other counselors all in favor all opposed so ordered and that's the close of business we'll see you all next week February 3rd for